In order to improve lighting on vehicles such as automobiles, trucks, etc, they can be equipped with one or more types of lighting accessories commonly known as driving lights. These driving lights are preferably mounted on the outside front of the vehicle. Alternatively these driving lights can for example be placed on a special mounting frame or on a load carrier, such as a roof rack etc on the roof of a vehicle.
Mounting driving lights on vehicles gives rise to several problems. Firstly, it can be difficult if not impossible to mount driving lights on certain types of vehicles. Even if it is possible to mount driving lights on a vehicle, it may be necessary to make holes in or other alterations to the vehicle. Secondly, existing designs of driving lights can not with ease be moved from one vehicle to another vehicle without having to perform a substantial amount of installation work. There is a clear need for driving lights which can be easily moved from one vehicle to another.
During the last few years traffic safety and environmental concerns have in an ever increasing way begun to affect the conditions under which driving lights can be mounted on vehicles. Externally mounted driving lights are undesirable from a traffic safety standpoint because they add to injuries suffered by unprotected road-users in an accident. Furthermore, externally mounted driving lights affect a vehicle's air resistance negatively (air resistance increases). This results in increased fuel consumption for vehicles which in turn increases pollution. By mounting the driving lights inside a vehicle, no extra pollution is created.
Yet another problem with externally mounted driving lights is that they are susceptible to dirt and grime. When the lamp glass of the driving lights gets dirty, the amount of light emitted from the driving lights is severely limited. Furthermore, a vehicle's externally mounted driving lights are highly susceptible to theft. If driving lights can be placed inside a vehicle, the risk of theft is radically reduced, and if these internally mounted driving lights can in addition be easily removed and taken out of the vehicle, the risk of theft can be further reduced and this at the same time substantially increases usability.
Furthermore, problems can even arise with visibility and a vehicle's preinstalled safety equipment with placement of driving lights on the inside of the windshield. It is very important from both a traffic safety viewpoint and a practical perspective that the driving lights do not block the driver's visibility or impair the function of safety features such as airbags and the like. The purpose of driving lights is to improve safety during the operation of a vehicle and not to reduce safety. Driving lights that are designed to be mounted in proximity to the rearview minor avoid these problems.
Another problem with existing designs of driving lights is that their illumination can not be adjusted. If a different illumination is desired, the driving light must be replaced with another driving light with a different illumination.
It has furthermore come to light that the placement of driving lights has a profound impact on how their efficiency is perceived. By placing driving lights at eye-level or higher, a greatly increased efficiency is achieved because so called umbrae which are tiring to the eyes are minimized.
Lately, lamps such as Xenon HID lamps have been developed. Xenon HID lamps are a very excellent type of lamp which unfortunately have the disadvantage of not operating at full illumination directly after they are switched on. The fact that full illumination is delayed by a second or two can be bothersome to the driver of a vehicle and can in the worst case be detrimental to traffic safety.